Major League Baseball announced yesterd, that four former big leaders were going to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio. This was a very historical moment, as it is the first time in 60 years that four players had been voted in and the first time ever three pitchers had been voted in the hall at the same time.
This summer we should expect some tears, some joy, laughter and some great speeches from these four deserving candidates. What is great about this years class, is that two of these former players have a connection with the city of Montreal. You see Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson both played for the Montreal Expos in their careers.
Two Former Montreal Expos Get the Call
Randy Johnson, as some of you might not remember, started his career in Montreal. He was drafted in 1985 by Montreal and his first two seasons in the bigs were with the Expos. Unfortunately he was part of a trade that is now considered one of the worst in Expos franchise history, as he was part of the 1989 deal that brought Mark Langston over from the Seattle Mariners. At the time the trade made sense, the Expos were trying to make a postseason push that year and looked like they would succeed, unfortunately the run fell flat, missing the playoffs and losing Langston to free-agency.
Although his career wasn’t long in Montreal he is still part of the teams history, his numbers looked like this 3-4 record with a 4.69 ERA, 55.2 innings pitched and 51 strikeouts over the span of 11 games in two seasons. Keep in mind that his first year had great promise going 3-0, but at the beginning of the 89 season he struggled and was 0-4 and it didn’t look so bad to send him away, but they knew they were giving away someone with a lot of promise. As a fun fact, the first player Johnson ever struck out was a Pittsburgh Pirates player known as Orestes Destrade.
Johnson’s career might not have been long in Montreal, but Pedro Martinez had a longer, more memorable stay with the franchise. Originally signed by the LA Dodgers as an amateur free-agent, the Expos acquired Martinez in a trade for second basemen Delino DeShields before the 1994 season. Martinez was a part of the great 1994 Expos team and would play four seasons with Montreal posting a 55-33 record, 3.06 ERA, 797.1 IP, 843 strikeouts in 118 games played. According to baseball-reference.com in the four years he played in Montreal he had a 20.1 WAR.
His best season with the team was 1997 where he had a 17-8 record, 1.90 ERA, 13 complete games 4 shutouts, 241.1 innings pitched and 305 strikeouts. He won the Cy Young Award that year and was the only Expo to ever do so. Surprisingly enough Martinez was traded right after winning the Cy Young, because he was soon going to be a free agent and the Expos ownership couldn’t afford him. He was traded to Boston for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. who combined didn’t have a season in Montreal as good as Pedro.
Martinez had some unique feats in Montreal he pitched a perfect nine innings for the Montreal Expos in 1995 against the San Diego Padres, but the Expos hadn’t scored and they went into extra innings .Martinez would give up a hit in the bottom of the 10th and would lose the perfect game bid. In 1997 Martinez was at bat against the Philadelphia Phillies and was hit by Mike Williams and he charged the mound, which isn’t common for a pitcher. To this day Pedro still holds two Expos/Nationals single season records in strikeouts and lowest ERA.
Two great pitchers who both wore Expos uniforms at points of their careers, unfortunately they will always be part of the Expos long what if history, what if they never traded Johnson, or Pedro, imagine if the teams owners kept both of these guys and how much it would have helped the team, unfortunately those are just what ifs. However Montreal is still lucky, they can always say these two Hall of Famers played in Montreal and that can never be taken away.
Once again congratulations to former Expos Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson on making the Hall and of course congrats to John Smoltz and Craig Biggio, all great players who deserve this honor.
Nick’s Note: What would have made this hall of fame class even more special for Montreal is if Tim Raines, had been voted in as well, he had 55% of the voted, but that wasn’t enough to get in, he still has a shot, but some big names will show up on next years ballot. I like many others hope that Raines gets his call to the hall.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @NVincelli. Also please support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
